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Good Night, Sweet Prince
Our critic assesses the achievement of Martin Amis, Britain’s most famous literary son.
Columns That Scrutinized, and Skewered, the Literary World
“NB by J.C.” collects the variegated musings of James Campbell in the Times Literary Supplement.
After Writing About Mental Illness, Kay Redfield Jamison Turns to Healers
In “Fires in the Dark,” Jamison, known for her expertise on manic depression, delves into the quest to heal. Her new book, she says, is a “love song to psychotherapy.”
A Classic of Golden Age Detective Fiction Turns 100
Dorothy L. Sayers dealt with emotional and financial instability by writing “Whose Body?,” the first of many to star the detective Lord Peter Wimsey.
Did She Cheat? A Century Later, a Novel’s Mystery Still Stumps.
“Dom Casmurro,” by Machado de Assis, teaches us to read — and reread — with precise detail and masterly obfuscation.
For ‘The Late Americans,’ Grad School Life Equals Envy, Sex and Ennui
Brandon Taylor’s novel circulates among Iowa City residents, some privileged, some not, but all aware that their possibilities are contracting.
A Brief Guide to Martin Amis’s Books
The acclaimed British novelist was also an essayist, memoirist and critic of the first rank.
The Best Romance Novels of the Year (So Far)
Looking for an escapist love story? Here are 2024’s sexiest, swooniest reads.
What Book Should You Read Next?
Finding a book you’ll love can be daunting. Let us help.
5 New Books We Love This Week
Reading recommendations from critics and editors at The New York Times.
Maxine Clair, Writer Who Came to Her Craft in Middle Age, Dies at 86
She published her first book of poems at 49 and her first work of prose, the acclaimed novel “Rattlebone,” six years later.
Ian McEwan Knows History Is an Imperfect Judge
The novelist, who wrote about World War II in “Atonement” and has turned repeatedly to his own times, imagines the 22nd century in his new book, “What We Can Know.”
Dark Romance Books Are Having a Moment. Here’s Where to Start.
The best-selling author Brynne Weaver recommends novels that dial up the emotional drama for high-stakes payoffs.
Rabih Alameddine Is Done With Dostoyevsky
Then: His favorite writer. Now: “So earnest, so didactic, so humorless.” His own new novel is “The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother).”
Tess Johnston, Diplomat Who Helped Preserve ‘Old Shanghai,’ Dies at 93
She worked in American consulates around the world but found a home in China’s “Paris of the East,” where she documented a vanishing colonial architecture.
She’s Very Much at Home in the Space Between Life and the Afterlife
Raised Buddhist in Texas, Amie Barrodale came to embrace the teachings. Years of practice inform her odd, and oddly funny, debut novel, “Trip.”
In This Circus Tale, Telepathic Twins Aren’t Even the Freak Show
Dan Chaon’s latest novel, “One of Us,” dances around a great showman, a demented “uncle” and a cast of fascinating misfits.
When Your M.F.A. Cohort Is Out for Blood
In “We Love You, Bunny,” the novelist Mona Awad revisits the gleefully vicious campus satire of her 2019 hit, “Bunny.” We’re all ears.
Books by Kiran Desai, Susan Choi and Katie Kitamura Lead Booker Prize Shortlist
The nominees for the prestigious award also include novels by David Szalay, Benjamin Markovits and Andrew Miller.
Were They Abducted by Aliens, or Is Their Memory Just Spotty?
Ilana Masad’s new novel, “Beings,” weaves together three separate story lines to explore how we process and narrate our lives.
A Journalist on the Inside Upends Good vs. Evil Criminal Stereotypes
In his first book, John J. Lennon, who is serving a 28-year sentence, brings nuance and complexity to his own and other prisoners’ stories.
A Heroine to Root For in an Unforgettable Novel of Haiti
In Emmelie Prophète’s “Cécé,” a young woman is determined to survive the slums — first by doing sex work, then by posting her gruesome reality for the world to see.
Do You Recognize These Books From Their Plot Descriptions?
Some novels stick with you long after you’ve read them. See how many of these classics for young readers you can identify from a one-sentence synopsis.
Ian McEwan’s Latest Is the Best Novel He’s Written in Ages
“What We Can Know” follows a scholarly quest amid the ruins of civilization.
What Fuels Revolution, Social Embarrassment and Public Acclaim? It’s Common Knowledge.
In a new book, the Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker argues that an awareness that everyone knows what you know is a powerful driver of human social life.
A Love Story Balancing Historical Sweep With High Erotic Tension
Set around World War I, the romantic drama in H.S. Cross’s new novel, “Amanda,” comes with a contemporary kink (or two).
Woody Allen’s First Novel: Funny-ish, but Very Familiar
In “What’s With Baum?,” an anxious, jealous and thrice-married writer finds himself stranded in a culture that wants more “schmaltz,” less “wisdom.”
Psychedelics Blew His Mind. He Wants Other Philosophers to Open Theirs.
An intense exchange with Marilyn Monroe sounds silly. But in a new book, Justin Smith-Ruiu is dead serious about what we might learn from altered states.
She Modeled Her Whole Life on Godly Purity. Then She Woke Up.
In the new memoir “Awake,” the evangelical star Jen Hatmaker explores how the implosion of her 26-year marriage helped lead to a spiritual reckoning.
Marian Burros, 92, Dies; Food Writer Famed for Her Plum Torte and More
At The Times and elsewhere, she combined recipe writing with reporting on topics like consumer protection and food safety. Her torte was a longtime fan favorite.
How Reese Witherspoon Figured Out Who She Really Is
The actor and producer booked her first big role when she was 14 years old. More than 30 years later, she’s an entertainment-industry powerhouse.
A Searing Memoir of Black Womanhood, Across Generations
In “The Waterbearers,” Sasha Bonét weaves her matrilineal history into a larger struggle for survival and self-knowledge.
Robert McNamara Loved Efficiency. Then Came the Vietnam War.
In “McNamara at War,” the brothers William and Philip Taubman probe the mind of a Harvard Business School technocrat who tried to overhaul the American military.
Mary Roach on the Timeless Appeal of Weird Science
The popular science author, whose latest is “Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy,” discusses her approach to the stranger corners of scientific inquiry.